Super Bowl game plan for a healthier party

A platter of crudites can win the day if you skip the supermarket offerings and make your own colorful assortment. Serve with this vegan ranch-style dressing that's so good no one will miss the dairy.

A platter of crudites can win the day if you skip the supermarket offerings and make your own colorful assortment. Serve with this vegan ranch-style dressing that's so good no one will miss the dairy. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)

Super Bowl parties don’t have to get bogged down with lots of fat, calories or sugars. Kick your game day menu up a couple of points with healthier alternatives to some popular recipes. Go into it, too, with a game plan on how to eat smart whether you’re the host or guest because you know you’re going to eat and eat and eat.

“It’s the unofficial American holiday, and it’s celebrated by eating,” says Paul Kita, food and nutrition editor at Men’s Health. “There’s a difference between indulging and overindulging.”

Kita, author of Men’s Health cookbook “A Man, A Pan, A Plan” (Rodale, $15.99), admits he’s guilty of going to a party and overeating. Then there’s the Super Bowl, which he notes offers both a long game time and such traditional goodies as Buffalo chicken wings and brownies.

But take heart! You can work around it.

“Part of what the Super Bowl is about is variety,” said Jack Bishop, chief creative officer for America’s Test Kitchen. “People want to see options.”

Those options can include healthy, smart items. Here are some tips from Kita and Bishop to put your Super Bowl party into play.

Hit the veggies first. “Whenever you go to a party with a buffet, there’s a supermarket crudites platter out,” said Kita, noting you need to “appreciate it” as likely the only vegetables you’ll get all night. Go there first; the fiber may help prevent overeating later.

While guests can’t do much with the usual supermarket veggie tray but eat it, Kita said hosts can make their own tray stocked with “surprising and delicious” foods, including sugar snap peas, jicama, multicolored carrots from the farmers market, even kale chips fresh from the oven.

Smarten up your dips strategy. Kita dismisses what he calls the usual “crummy ranch dressing” (try the vegan version of this super-popular favorite below) in favor of more healthful dunks, like hummus, guacamole, tzatziki or baba ghanoush.

Sub healthier ingredients in favorite dishes. Bishop points to barbecue and notes you can substitute leaner pulled turkey for pulled pork. You’ll get the same flavors and textures, he said. And don’t stop there. Pair with a healthy slaw made with red cabbage and carrots and tossed with a vinegar-based dressing.

Watch the beer. And not just for the usual reason. Some craft beers are more caloric than others, and you may find yourself downing 300 to 400 calories per pop. How to tell which is the lighter brew?

“Look at the alcohol by volume,” Kita said. “Higher the alcohol, the more calories.”

wdaley@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @billdaley

Vegan ranch-style dressing

Prep: 20 minutes

Makes: 2 cups

This recipe from “Vegan Burgers and Burritos” (Page Street Publishing, $21.99) by Sophia DeSantis calls for a high-speed blender like a Vitamix. If you don’t have one, DeSantis suggests grinding all the ingredients in a coffee grinder to a fine powder, or soaking the cashews for at least 2 to 3 hours or overnight. (Boil the cashews for 30 minutes if you forget the soaking, she writes.)

1 cup unsweetened plain cashew or almond milk

¼ cup plus 2 teaspoons white vinegar

5 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 ½ cups raw cashews

1 ¼ teaspoons sea salt

2 teaspoons dried parsley

1 teaspoon each: garlic powder, minced onion

½ teaspoon each: onion powder, dried dill

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon mustard powder

1. Place the nut milk, vinegar and lemon juice in a bowl; allow to sit while you assemble the rest of the ingredients.

2. Add the milk mixture, cashews and salt into a high-speed blender; puree until smooth.

3. Add the parsley, garlic powder, onion, onion powder, dill, black pepper and mustard powder to the blender; pulse until well mixed. Refrigerate the sauce to thicken. Serve as a dip for fresh raw vegetables.

5. Stir in beans, cover, and cook until slightly thickened, about 45 minutes. (If chili begins to stick to bottom of pot or looks too thick, stir in extra water as needed.) Season with salt to taste. Serve.

As temperatures drop, our craving for comforting, hearty dishes heats up. Appropriately, Food & Dining is spending October hunting down Chicago's best noodle dishes, from Italian pastas to Japanese ramen and everything in between. Follow along as we unveil our picks. We'll add a new noodle each day of the month.